Customer Reviews

Empty Nest, Full Heart : The Journey from Home to College

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book, one which I plan to purchase for my sisters as their kids get to be seniors in high school. I've read it three times and always get something else from it. Even though my 2 boys are totally different in personality this book addresses passages they have both had. It also addresses the pain parents may experience as their young adults go off to their new lives and how it is to have them briefly return for vacations and summer. I felt as if a friend were comforting me as I went through this exciting yet difficult time.

It came at the most opportune time. My second granddaughter is just ready to attend Syracuse University and has been going through all the throes of being filled with apprehension. My daughter is also facing the feeling of being exasperated with her. The unique list at the end of each chapter called Remedies is fantastic. I read the book quickly so I could share it with my family. EMPTY NEST... FULL HEART is an exciting book with clearly defined remedies for conflict between parents and young people as they get ready to try their own wings. I know that everyone who reads it will be thankful.

My only child is leaving for college this fall. I am floundering with the struglle of how to help and when to get out of the way. I keep going back and reading parts of this book for guidance and reassurance. Great stories about families that have been there help me feel like it will work out okay. Specific advice on what to do. Thanks for the help Andrea !

As an administrator of a very diverse school and mother of a college freshman, I found this book warmly expresses the commonality of all our experiences.

Although a majority of readers obviously loves this book, I have to say that it really seemed like a waste of money to me. Our only daughter left for college this year, but fortunately I have trained her in time to be independent. If your kid doesn't have a clue how to live in the real world and if if you're still willing to do everything for them and not have them take responsibilities for their own lives, this book is right for you. Not in my dreams would I have made lists for her what to take because she can well do this herself! I do miss her and she misses us but that does not mean clinging dependency! I expected different things from this book, on a deeper psychological level.

I found the support I was longing for by reading Empty Nest...Full Heart. I read Andrea Van Steenhouse's book a few years ago after hearing her interviewed on public radio. Now, as my daughter completes her senior year, I am reviewing it again for support again. As a personal/professional coach, I am leading book discussions for parents who are getting ready for the transition of "sending my child to college." If's full of realism, tears, and laughter...not that different from our of journey of parenthood.
Barbara Wulf MS, CPCC
Personal/Professional Coach
Career Services
Beckon Call

This book is written by a psychologist and reading it will help any parent who is sending a kid off to college understand much better their, and their kid's feelings and behaviors.
This book is ideal for parents who have a high school junior or senior, as it previews what is going on with the kid as he / she makes the transition form high schooler to college student.
The book helps parents sort through their feelings, and gives support and
tips on how to deal with the transition to 'empty nest.' And, especially helpful is the section on the affects upon any kids still at home when an older sibling leaves for college. Anyone with a younger student still at home definitely will want to read this book.

I just completed Empty Nest ... Full Heart. I found some practical advice but was bewildered by story after story from parents whose relationship with their HS senior was less than desirable. It seems a slanted perspective. After reading her advice to "Stay away from parents whose kids are perfect," it makes sense that despite her intention to inform, she only reflected upon the experiences of parents who didn't quite keep the lines of communication open and rewarding.

Raising a student who is communicative is the result of having an awareness and steadfast discipline of putting the student's needs at the same level as the parents' for the 18 years he/she lives at home. A "perfect kid" is a kid whose needs are met.

Van Steenhouse didn't think her audience wanted to read about freshmen who returned home for Thanksgiving to have rewarding dialogue with family, or who were grateful to return to the fold of nurturance. And while there may be plenty of examples of freshmen who return home for Thanksgiving feeling more unsettled than at-home, it is not a balanced account.

I invite her to open her heart to parents who have succeeded in having rewarding relationships with their HS seniors and college freshmen. Such parents should be applauded not alienated.

I am a recent graduate and bought this book for some family friends who have children going off to college. They loved it!
keep this book in mind as a great gift idea.

After going away to college and looking back on this book, I have nothing but good things to say about it. A must read for any parent with a child going away to school.